Rajasthan take ‘royal’ stride towards play-off, beat LSG by 7 wickets

NEW DELHI: Sanju Samson‘s unbeaten 71 off 33 balls, which included four stylish sixes, had a significantly greater impact than his counterpart KL Rahul‘s more measured 76 off 48 balls as the Rajasthan Royals comfortably defeated the Lucknow Super Giants by seven wickets on Saturday. This victory was crucial for the Royals as they made a significant step towards the IPL playoffs.
While Rahul remains the favorite to be Rishabh Pant’s backup wicketkeeper for the T20 World Cup, Samson’s performance, including hitting the winning six in a chase of 197, keeps him in contention for a spot on the flight to the US.
Samson and Jurel came together when the Royals lost momentum after a strong start, forming a solid partnership of 121 runs in just 62 balls for the unbeaten fourth wicket, guiding their team to victory.
Despite facing a challenging target of 197 with LSG using seven bowlers, including two leg-spinners, Rajasthan finished at 199 for three, securing the win with an over to spare.
On his part, the young Jurel finally discovered his mojo to put behind a barren run, smacking five fours and two sixes to make a sturdy 52 not out off 34 balls.
The win took top-placed Rajasthan to 16 points — six clear from the second-best Kolkata Knight Riders — and a step closer to become the first team to reach the playoffs in the 17th edition. The play-offs cut-off this year is likely to be 18 points if one goes by the current mid-table muddle.
LSG remained on fourth spot with 10 points in bag.
Rajasthan openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (24) and Jos Buttler (34) knocked off 60 runs from the target unscathed, but their side went through a slump in the following overs while also losing three wickets in quick succession.
It began with Buttler walking across his stumps to miss an angled full toss from Thakur, who knocked down the leg-stump for the first breakthrough.
Marcus Stoinis bowled an innocuous delivery outside off to invite a free-flowing Jaiswal to go for it. The left-hander obliged but did not connect well, finding Bishnoi at deep point.
LSG’s plans to tie the Royals down with leg-spin became evident when the 41-year-old Amit Mishra came on as impact substitute and got the priced scalp of Riyan Parag (11) in his first over.
Rajasthan slipped from 60 for no loss to 78/3 after nine, and this was when Jurel and Samson began their recovery work to put Rajasthan back on track again.
Jurel and Samson began with a six and a four respectively off Mishra to push the leg-spinner on the backfoot and took 17 runs off Thakur’s second over.
Krunal Pandya (0/24) did well on his part to send down a few measly overs in between but RR were back on charge again when Mohsin Khan came on in the 14th over.
Jurel hit the left-armer for 20 runs including three fours and a six in Mohsin’s third of the game and also enjoyed a reprieve when Thakur, placed at short third man, dropped a crucial catch when the RR batter was on 32.
Bishnoi’s introduction as late as in the 16th over had no impact whatsoever, with RR having grasped full control of the proceedings. The leg-spinner leaked another 16 runs as RR inched closer to the finish line.
Earlier in the first half, Rahul (76 off 48 balls) dug deep with Deepak Hooda (50 off 31 balls) as Lucknow Super Giants managed a competitive 196/5 against Rajasthan Royals.
Rahul and Hooda gave LSG a solid footing with a 62-ball 115-run stand for the third wicket after early blows, but the failure of others meant the hosts could not capitalise on the hard work by the two.
Rahul’s 48-ball 76 with eight fours and two sixes was his fourth fifty of the season while Hooda banished his poor string of scores to make his first big score this IPL.
(With inputs from PTI)